Thursday, May 3, 2007

The U.P. Election Watch is a non-partisan civil society initiative at creating accountable and transparent governance in the State. Its aim is to help the voter make an informed choice.

The UPEW, along with 210 CBOs/NGOs created a network of citizens across the state for this purpose.

The process has been initiated in the state by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) which is engaged in strengthening democracy in the country through political and electoral reforms.

People's Vigilance committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) has become the coordinating body of the whole process. PVCHR has been involved with the cause of torture, hunger, malnutrition, education, health and governance for the most marginalized and voiceless section of Indian society.The UPEW has collected (phase-wise) in all 5940 affidavits filed by candidates along with their nomination papers. This comes to about 15 candidates per constituency. A cursory look at the affidavits tells us that most of these candidates could be put in the non-serious category. A large number of them have nothing to declare. Some even go to the extent of saying—Dahej main mili bajaj scooter, poorana.Among the main party candidates the trend of periodic amnesia still continues. When it came to disclosing their criminal background or exceptionally high assets, their handwriting goes for a six. Use of magnifying glass while deciphering the affidavits was a must when it came to the rich and brave!We have brought out continuously list of candidates who have high assets or liability but have NO PAN. And most of them do belong to the main political parties. It is a sad statement on the politics of UP that one of the main political parties has 50% candidates who have no PAN.At the same time, the sixth and seventh phases with 111 seats have about 300 candidates with pending criminal cases. That is nearly 3 candidates per constituency. What is the message for the voter?We have been bringing out Red Alert constituency lists, which have 4 or more candidates with criminal background. But in the seventh phase this list has 16 constituencies. What does this mean? That the voter could be taken for a ride! Or muscle power and money power could tilt the scale in anyone's favour! Since the lawmakers are not going to put a stop to this state of affairs, it is upto the aam aadmi of the country to say NO to such candidates.The list of findings goes on to show that there is equal disregard for the "voter's informed choice" by all the main political parties. Unless political parties take responsibility for the candidates they put up, a clean and transparent government will remain a utopia. Accountability of the public representative is necessary to take the state out of the quagmire it finds itself in todayUPEW has analyzed the affidavits for voter's information. We solicit your cooperation in disseminating candidate background information throughout the State.Seventh phase of UP Assembly Elections-2007 covers 59 constituencies, falling under 9 districts of the state. These districts, with total population of 2.42 crore (14.56% of State’s total popn), account for 14.64% of total number of constituencies.In this phase, there are 1.78 crore electors, suppose to go for Poll on 8th of May. There are in all 934 candidates in the fray. Of these, 248 candidates have been fielded by major political parties, 350 by other parties and 336 are independents.Main findings:With this phase, the total number of candidates with pending criminal cases has reached 882. It is worth remembering that in last assembly elections this number stood at 506, out of which 206 candidates were elected as MLAs. Hence, in this Assembly election, there is a marked increase of 74% of candidates with pending criminal cases.MUSCLEThis phase has the highest number 162 (17.34%) of candidates with criminal cases pending against them.SP leads the list of candidates who have pending criminal cases against them with 32/55 (58%), followed by BJP plus AD, 19/53 (36%), BSP 20/59 (34%) and INC, 16/57 (28%).Pawan Pande of Apna Dal (AD) from Akbarpur (const # 114) leads the list, not only for this phase but for the entire UP Assembly elections (2007), with as many as 63 cases pending against him.There are 16 constituencies in this phase which have more than 4 candidates with pending criminal cases. Deoria (const # 187) leads the list with 8 candidates.Out of the 162 candidates with pending criminal cases, 46% are between 25-40 yrs and 61% between 41-60 yrs and 11% are from 60+ age group.Out of 162 candidates with pending criminal cases 55 % are graduates and above.If we look at combined percentages/figures of all the Seven phases, out of total number of candidates with pending criminal cases, major political parties account for 59%, other parties 22% and independents 19%. However, the sequence of parties remains almost the same with SP (38%), BSP (32%), BJP+AD (29%), INC (22%) and RLD (14%).MONEY51 candidates have declared their assets worth more than Rs 1 Crore. SP counts for 15 such candidates, BSP - 11, INC - 7 and BJP+AD - 6.In top 10 Crorepati list SP and INC has 2 candidates each, and JD(U) - 1.The list of average assets of a main party candidate is led by SP with 1.02 Crore, followed by BSP - 0.57 Crore, INC - 0.53 crore and BJP - 0.46 Crore.\u003c/li\>\n\u003cli style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>There are 13 candidates who have high liabilities but NO PAN. The SP tops this list with 3 candidates. The BJP has 2, INC,2 and the BSP has 1 such candidate.\n\u003c/font\>\u003c/li\>\n\u003cli style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>There are 7 candidates who have declared assets over Rs 1 Crore, but have NO PAN. SP has 2 such candidates and the BSP 1 in this list. \n\u003c/font\>\u003c/li\>\n\u003cli style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>There are 559 candidates out of 785 (71.21%) who have NO PAN. Among the major parties, RLD has \n67.65%, INC, 48.82% candidates who do not have PAN.\u003c/font\>\u003c/li\>\n\u003cli style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>\u003cspan\> \u003c/span\>If we look at the age profile of candidates put up by major political parties, we see that \n64.25% candidates are between the age group of 41-60 yrs and 26.42% belong to the age group of 25-40 yrs.\u003c/font\>\u003c/li\>\n\u003cli style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>Among the main political parties 64.77% are graduates and above and 16.58%\n belong to the non matriculate category.\u003c/font\>\u003c/li\>\u003c/ul\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-family:Arial\"\>The UP Election Watch is a non-partisan civil society alliance for clean politics and accountable governance. Collection of affidavits, collation of information contained there in, and dissemination among voters of this information before the voting day are voluntary civil society efforts. This is intended to enable the voter to make an informed and responsible choice while casting their votes. It is to be remembered that in a democracy there is no position higher than that of the CITIZEN. \n\u003c/span\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:justify\"\>\u003cb\>\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-family:Arial\"\>The UPEW, along with 200 CBOs/NGOs created a network of citizens across the state for this purpose. \n",1]);//-->

Average liability of a main party candidate stands at, BJP+AD—4.66 lakhs, BSP—3.10 Lakhs, SP—2.87 lakhs, and INC—1.75 lakhs.There are 14 candidates who have high liabilities but NO PAN. BSP tops this list with 4 candidates. SP has 3, JM – 2, INC and BJP accounts for 1 each of such candidates.There are 7 candidates who have declared assets over Rs 1 Crore, but have NO PAN. In this list, BSP has 2 candidates, INC and JM has 1 eachAs many as 734 (78.59%) candidates have NO PAN. Among the major parties, RLD counts for 83% followed by INC – 58%, BJP+AD 51%, SP 47% and BSP, 34%.AGEIf we look at the age profile of candidates put up by major political parties, we see that 13% candidates are in the age group 61 yrs & above, 66% are between 41-60 yrs and 21% belong to 25-40 yrs age group.EDUCATIONAmong the main political parties 58% are graduates & above, 26% matriculate and 16% belong to the non-matriculate category.

This information is intended to enable the voter to make an informed and responsible choice while casting their votes. It is to be remembered that in a democracy there is no position higher than the CITIZEN.

ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms), PVCHR(Manav Adhikar Jan Nigrani samiti), People’s forum, Parmarth, GSS, AIM, including several other NGOs and Social activists have collectively worked for ‘U.P. Election Watch’ to bring out this Report.Disclaimer

The information contained in this Report has been culled from the affidavits presented by the candidates along with their nomination papers. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy of the information we would be grateful if any factual error, which has inadvertently crept in, is pointed out to us to enable us to take prompt corrective action. All the affidavits are available on Election Commission’s website (www.eci.gov.in ).DISTRICTS IN SIXTH ( 7th ) PHASEDevelopment Indicatorssl.noDistrictTotal Popn. (in Lakhs)Density persons/ sq.km.Sex RatioFemales/ ‘000 malesLiteracy Rate (%)Work participation Rate (%)Urban Popn. (%)1Faizabad20.8975593956.339.413.52Ambedkar Nagar20.2785497858.433.48.93Gorakhpur37.69114096058.530.119.64Maharajganj21.7473493446.639.15.15Kushinagar28.9399496346.934.24.66Deoria27.131077100258.628.59.97Mau18.54108098662.232.319.48Azamgarh39.40938102057.030.57.59Ballia27.6292395357.928.89.8

ALL U.P.166268989857.36

20.8Source: Primary Census - 2001

CRIME PROFILE OF THE DISTRICTSSl. No.DistrictMurderAttempt to Commit MurderC.H. Not amounting to MurderRapeKidnapping & Abduction ofDacoityWomenOthersTotal1Faizabad554313113323512Ambedkar Nagar474113264104153Gorakhpur946741242722954Maharajganj30131791411505KushiNagar41353361662216Deoria39362171721907Mau344117562808Azamgarh849121103223479Ballia36522124482Total4604191971001902121121Percent of UP Total8.057.4312.968.228.423.007.147.34TOTAL UP571156371520121722566992955286Source: National Crime Record Bureau, 2005

OTHER PARTIES69.6271.5183.9884.9285.9678.2635030386.5779.72INDEPENDENT83.7680.5486.4793.2589.1281.5333630590.7786.80Overall64.8464.2772.8879.7275.2071.2193473478.5972.74

PARTY WISE % OF CANDIDATES WITH ASSETS Rs. 1 CRORE AND ABOVEPartyPhaseIPhaseIIPhaseIIIPhaseIVPhaseVPhase VIPhase - VIICombined percentTotal no. of CandidatesCandidates With ASSETS More than Rs. 1 Crore%BSP22.5850.0017.5415.7922.4125.00591118.6424.56BJP+AD25.9235.0911.7613.4616.6714.6347+6611.3220.86INC17.7421.0516.0710.7124.1416.3357712.2816.96SP27.8733.9325.0021.0532.1417.65551527.2726.53RLD……39.227.550.005.260.002400

OTHER PARTIES5.695.592.602.381.322.5435082.29

INDEPENDENT2.324.793.101.200.801.3933641.19

Overall9.4215.916.984.887.075.99934515.46

AVERAGE PARTY CANDIDATES ASSETS (Amt. in Rs. Crore)PartyPhaseIPhaseIIPhaseIIIPhaseIVPhaseVPhaseVIPhase - VIICombined Average Assets(amt in Crore)Total no. of CandidatesTOTAL Amount of ASSETSAVERAGE ASSETSBSP0.551.360.720.741.131.185933.670.570.89BJP+AD0.791.150.560.480.560.4747+624.550.460.66INC0.590.977.620.921.770.535730.310.531.84SP0.871.641.050.631.010.745555.801.020.99RLD..1.120.330.110.140.13243.310.14

AVERAGE PARTY CANDIDATE'S LIABILITIES (Amt. in Rs. Lakh)PartyPhaseIPhaseIIPhaseIIIPhaseIVPhaseVPhaseVIPhase - VIICombined Average Liabilities(Amt in Lakh)Total no. of CandidatesTOTAL LIABILITIESAVERAGE LIABILITYBSP0.294.574.266.547.9026.5259182.683.107.24BJP+AD1.526.455.765.462.763.9747+6247.104.664.18INC2.819.445.725.1012.151.655799.481.755.15SP3.516.575.854.117.885.4055157.742.875.58RLD..4.570.871.111.030.552448.202.01